Estimated Percentage of Females Who Will Become Teen Mothers: Differences Across States

An estimated 18 percent of females nationwide will become teen mothers, according to this Child Trends research brief. The brief also finds that states vary widely in the estimated percentage of females who will have a baby before the age of 20, ranging from 8% in New Hampshire to 30% in Mississippi. Additional findings: --The 2006 estimated percentage of females who will have a teen birth is slightly higher than the 2005 estimate of 17 percent, which reflects a recent increase in the teen birth rate between 2005 and 2006. --For the nation, the estimated percentage of females becoming teen mothers declined from 25 percent in 1991 to 17 percent in 2005, reflecting a drop in teen birth rates during this period. --25 percent or more of females were estimated to become teen mothers in 9 states, concentrated primarily in the South and Southwest. In contrast, in only three states - New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts - were less than 10 percent of females estimated to become teen mothers. --State-level rankings on the likelihood of becoming a teen mother mirror traditional state rankings based on teen birth rates, but are not identical due to differences in the age-specific birth rates and the population distribution within each state

Condom Use and Consistency Among Teen Males

This Child Trends study finds that any type of formal sex education is linked with higher levels of condom use at teen males' first sexual experience. However, one in five teen males (ages 15-19) did not receive formal sex education about either abstinence or contraception before having sex for the first time. The study, published in the October 2008 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health and summarized in this fact sheet, examines how multiple dimensions of teen males' lives are associated with condom use and consistency. Among the findings: --Having an older partner or a casual partner is linked to less condom use. Nearly one-fourth of teen males had an older recent partner and more than one-third were in a casual relationship with their first sexual partner. --Older teen males and those in longer relationships are less likely to use condoms. This was true even after controlling for whether their partner used a contraceptive method. --Positive attitudes about using condoms are linked to actual use. Teen males who disagree with the ideas that condoms reduce physical pleasure and that it would be embarrassing to discuss condom use with a new partner have higher levels of condom use and consistency. --Seven in ten teen males reported using a condom at their first and at their most recent sexual experience, but fewer reported using condoms consistently. Just one-half of sexually active teen males reported using a condom consistently with their most recent sexual partner

How Much Do You Know About Teen Sexual Behavior? A True-False Quiz

Without the facts, it's difficult to develop effective approaches to reduce risky sexual behaviors and prevent teen pregnancy and STD transmission. This Child Trends fact sheet lists ten things that parents, policy makers, and practitioners should know about teen sexual behavior. While all teens who have sex are at risk of pregnancy and STDs, the fact sheet highlights some of the behaviors that put teens at increased risk

The relationship context of nonmarital childbearing in the U.S.

Using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data, we update estimates of cohabiting nonmarital births, examine factors associated with relationship context at birth, and assess racial/ethnic differences. We find that 52% of nonmarital births occur within cohabitations – an increase of 33% since the early 1990s. Blacks have shown the greatest increase in cohabiting births over time. We also find that the fertility histories of men and women have opposite influences on nonmarital childbearing. Furthermore, for Whites, a partner of a different race/ethnicity is associated with a higher risk of a nonmarital birth; for Blacks and Hispanics, the opposite is true.cohabitation, non-marital childbearing

Reducing Teen Childbearing Among Latinos: An Innovative Anti-Poverty Strategy

Having kids during the teen years raises the risk of poverty. Latinos in the United States are particularly vulnerable in this regard. They experience high rates of poverty and—not coincidently—they experience relatively high rates of teen childbearing, despite recent declines. We know from research that delaying childbearing can reduce the risk of poverty, especially when delays are accompanied by increased educational attainment. Accordingly, to reduce poverty among Latinos, it seems vital to reduce teen childbearing. This important insight underscores the need to expand the number of effective teen pregnancy prevention programs designed specifically for Latinos. To address this need, an interdisciplinary team of social scientists at Child Trends used multiple research methods to identify promising approaches to reduce early childbearing among Latino adolescents. This work included a review of research studies, a scan of intervention programs, focus groups with adolescents, interviews with parents and with program designers and program staff, as well as analyses of national databases. In this issue brief, we synthesize the results across these various research methods to identify major findings and implications for teen pregnancy prevention efforts for Latinos

Modeling Management Strategies for the Control of Bighorn Sheep Respiratory Disease

Infectious pneumonia has plagued bighorn sheep populations and stymied recovery efforts across the western United States for decades.  Here we present a simple, non-spatial, stochastic, discrete-time model that captures basic bighorn sheep demographics and in which we simulate the dynamics of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, the suspected primary causative agent in bighorn sheep respiratory disease. We then use the model to explore the impacts of management approaches, including augmentation, depopulation and reintroduction, density reduction, and test-and-cull, aimed at reducing or eliminating the pathogen, its transmission, or associated infection costs. Results suggest that test-and-cull (testing 95% of a herd and removing PCR-positive individuals) and depopulation and reintroduction (assuming ability to only depopulate 95% of the herd) offer the best probability of eliminating the pathogen, although neither are expected to be 100% successful. Augmentation (adding 30 adult ewes) does not increase the probability of pathogen extinction, and in some cases may prolong pathogen persistence and diminish herd recovery.  Density reduction (randomly removing 25-50% of the herd) only modestly increases the probability of stochastic pathogen extinction and herd recovery.  Stochastic pathogen extinction and herd recovery is predicted to occur on occasion without any management intervention. Ultimately, decisions to manage respiratory disease in wild sheep must weigh the predicted success of the management tool against financial, logistical, ethical, and value-based considerations. Here, we aim to supply mechanistic-based predictions of the relative efficacy of currently employed or proposed tools, as well as characterize the sensitivity of these predictions to our assumptions about how the disease process works

Evaluation of Online Consumer Health Information for Idiopathic Scoliosis Identified by a Google Search

Introduction. This study sought to assess the quality of online consumerhealth information about idiopathic scoliosis. Previous studiesshowed that quality of online health information varies and oftenlacks adherence to expert recommendations and guidelines. Nevertheless,72% of internet users seek health information online. A 2005analysis of online scoliosis information found that the informationwas limited and of poor quality. Methods. Two reviewers vetted the top 10 websites resulting from aGoogleTM search for “scoliosis.” Content was organized into categoriesand rated by three physician evaluators using a 1 - 5 scale basedon quality, accuracy, completeness of information, readability, andwillingness to recommend. Additional information, such as numberof ads and Flesch-Kinkaid reading level, also was collected. Results. The average overall physician score was 47.6 (75 possible).All websites included content that was mostly accurate but varied incompleteness. Physicians unanimously recommended Mayo Clinic,MedicineNet, and Kids Health; none recommended the GoogleTMKnowledge Graph. The Scoliosis Research Society website reachedthe highest overall physician score. Readability ranged from 7th gradeto college level; only that of Kids Health was below 10th grade level. Conclusions. Most essential information provided by the websiteswas accurate and generally well rated by physicians. Website rankingby physicians was inconsistent with the ranking order by GoogleTM,indicating that health seekers reviewing the top GoogleTM-rankedwebsites may not be viewing the websites rated highest by physicians.Physicians should consider patient literacy in website recommendations,as many have an above average literacy level.Kans J Med 2018;11(4):95-101

Religious Identity, Religious Attendance, and Parental Control

Using a national sample of adolescents aged 10–18 years and their parents (N = 5,117), this article examines whether parental religious identity and religious participation are associated with the ways in which parents control their children. We hypothesize that both religious orthodoxy and weekly religious attendance are related to heightened levels of three elements of parental control: monitoring activities, normative regulations, and network closure. Results indicate that an orthodox religious identity for Catholic and Protestant parents and higher levels of religious attendance for parents as a whole are associated with increases in monitoring activities and normative regulations of American adolescents